Key posts
Good night
By Amelia McGuire
That’s where we’ll leave today’s live blog.
If you’re just joining us, here’s a summary of today’s main stories.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his cabinet has decided there needs to be a further inquiry into Scott Morrison’s secret portfolio saga headed by a legal expert. It comes after Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue found that former prime minister Scott Morrison was validly appointed to administer the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources – but the secrecy surrounding the appointment “fundamentally undermined” the conventions of responsible government.
- Former prime minister Scott Morrison responded to the call on social media to say he’d participate in “any genuine process” to learn lessons from the pandemic but he expects it to be a broader inquiry, covering the actions of states and territories.
- Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has backed calls to increase the nation’s intake of skilled migrants ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit. It comes as the federal government considers ways to tackle worker shortages plaguing most industries.
- In NSW, Premier Dominic Perrottet is once again pushing to put COVID-19 isolation back on the agenda when the federal cabinet meets again on August 31. He has previously called for isolation to be cut from seven days to five.
- And speaking of coronavirus, Australia has reported 15,338 new cases of COVID-19 today and 95 deaths from the virus.
Broede Carmody will be back bright and early tomorrow morning to bring you the news as it breaks.
As always, thanks for reading.
Good night.
Latest posts
Lachlan Murdoch poised to file defamation proceedings against Crikey
By Michaela Whitbourn
News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch is poised to file defamation proceedings against Crikey over an article naming his family as “unindicted co-conspirators” of former US president Donald Trump following the 2021 US Capitol riots.
Lawyers for Murdoch, the chief executive of Fox Corporation, are expected to file a statement of claim against the online news outlet in the Federal Court in Sydney as early as Wednesday, after Crikey challenged the billionaire media mogul on Monday to sue it over the June 29 article.
News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch.Credit:Getty
The lawsuit may prove the first major test of new defamation laws, in force across most of Australia, that include a public interest-style defence aimed at protecting investigative journalism and a requirement for a prospective plaintiff to show a publication has caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm to their reputation. The latter is aimed at weeding out trivial claims before a trial.
Western Australia and the Northern Territory have yet to give effect to those changes, but any trial would take place under the new law in NSW.
You can read the full story here.
Australian Medical Association Victoria endorses GP-led centres to ease hospital pressures
By Caroline Schelle
The Australian Medical Association Victoria president Dr Roderick McRae said the organisation backed the Victorian government’s plan for GP-led centres to ease pressure on emergency departments.
Five centres would be opened near hospitals including Royal Melbourne, Sunshine Hospital and Grampians Health Ballarat to care for up to 300 patients per site each week, under a Victorian government plan announced on Sunday.
McRae backed the proposal as a pilot to see if it did help address “overflowing” emergency departments.
“Clearly if someone has a sprained ankle, queue outside a tent, outside of the emergency department in the public hospital system they’ll be competing with people having strokes and heart attacks who leapfrog over them, as they should,” he told Nine radio in Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon.
Dr Roderick McRae, president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association.Credit:Joe Armao
There was a “massive problem” with how healthcare was funded, between state and federal governments but said the real issue was about staffing.
“The real issue we need to properly attend to is the workforce, we need to have staff who are properly trained to provide safe, excellent care as we expect ,” McRae said.
He added in a black and white world there would be a hospital built on every corner with a traffic light.
His comments come after the Victorian liberals announced last week if elected they would shelve plans to build a Suburban Rail Loop and instead use the money to build more hospitals.
The doctor said GPs were also facing “unbelievable” cost pressures and the Medicare rebate had not kept pace with inflation.
“The medicare rebate that the patient receives from one off service from a medical practitioner…a general practitioner has not kept pace anywhere near inflation over the last 25 years,” McRae said.
Attorney-General says former PM undermined ‘basic principles of democracy’
By Amelia McGuire
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has reacted to member for Cook Scott Morrison’s social media post stating the former prime minister would engage with any “genuine” process to learn the lessons from the pandemic.
Speaking to ABC radio in Melbourne, Dreyfus said Morrison has been “hiding behind the pandemic” as an excuse for secretly appointing himself to five extra ministerial positions while he was prime minister.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.Credit:Eddie Jim
“The former Prime Minister undermined basic principles of our democracy, he trashed the parliamentary responsibility. He was just thumbing his nose at our parliament,” Dreyfus said, adding that the Commonwealth depends on knowing who’s appointed to administer departments.
Dreyfus continued by saying the government has not yet decided what form the inquiry into the ministerial appointments will take.
“What we do know is that in the eight or so days this has been in the public, new details have become apparent,” Dreyfus said.
Scott Morrison says any pandemic inquiry should cover states and territories
By Lisa Visentin
Former prime minister Scott Morrison says he will participate in “any genuine process” to learn the lessons from the pandemic, but has said he expects this to be a broader inquiry covering the actions of states and territories.
“I will appropriately assist any genuine process to learn the lessons from the pandemic. I would expect that any credible processes would also extend to the actions of the States and Territories,” Morrison wrote on Facebook.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison.Credit:Nick Moir
Responding to the solicitor-general’s advice on Tuesday, Morrison again defended his actions in being secretly appointed to administer five departments in 2020 and 2021.
“I note that the Solicitor General found that the appointments were ‘valid’ and that ’while there is some historical precedent for the publication in the Gazette of appointments to administer particular departments of State under s 64, there is no consistent practice in that regard,” he said.
“To respond to the Solicitor General’s advice I refer to my statement last week where I set out that at no time, other than the consideration of the PEP11 matter from first principles, did I exercise powers established under these lawful authorities.
This means that I did not fulfill the function of an Acting or Co-Minister, as has been alleged. Ministers continued to exercise their full authorities without any interference, with my full trust and confidence.”
Musk subpoenas ex-Twitter chief Dorsey in battle over buyout
By Jef Feeley and Kurt Wagner
Elon Musk has subpoenaed Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and his longtime friend, in his defence against the social media company’s lawsuit to make him complete his proposed $US44 billion ($64 billion) buyout.
Dorsey, who stepped down as Twitter’s chief executive officer last year, has been an energetic booster of Musk’s bid for the company, tweeting in April that Musk was the “singular solution I trust” to take over.
The subpoena follows a pair filed on Friday for Kayvon Beykpour, former head of consumer product at Twitter, and Bruce Falck, formerly in charge of revenue product. The billionaire is rapidly marshalling documents and data to show that Twitter understated how much of its customer base is made up of spam and robot accounts.
Opinion: A COVID inquiry is needed, but a royal commission may not be the answer
By Michael Koziol
The pandemic may not be “over”, strictly speaking, but for most of us, it’s fair to say the worst of COVID-19’s intrusions into our daily lives are now in the rear-view mirror.
It’s tempting to floor it and put as much distance as we can between ourselves and those torrid couple of years of lockdowns, ever-changing rules, daily press conferences, testing queues, anti-vaxxers and protests. Easier to move on, close your eyes and think of summer.
Our politicians would probably like us to do exactly that. But it is imperative we don’t put the pandemic behind us without conducting a thorough review of how our leaders, officials and authorities responded. Exactly what form that review should take, however, is complex.
Then prime minister Scott Morrison and his COVID-19 taskforce commander, Lieutenant General John Frewen, in January 2022.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Royal commissions are often used to investigate systemic failures and we’ve seen a number of recent examples shed light on injustice in aged care, the disability sector and institutions that covered up child sexual abuse.
All these things are worthy of review, but whether a royal commission is the best vehicle for that is questionable. As public law expert Anne Twomey notes, RCs are good at compelling evidence from people outside government. If we are mainly interested in probing government decisions, it might be sufficient for governments to establish an independent inquiry into its own actions.
You can read the rest of this opinion piece here.
Coalition to co-operate with transparent ministerial appointment proposals
By Lisa Visentin
The federal opposition says it will co-operate with the government to improve transparency around ministerial appointments.
In a statement, Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser, acknowledged the “solicitor-general confirmed that the appointments were validly made but proposed various mechanisms by which practices could in future be improved”.
“The opposition will work with the government on any reasonable proposals to provide clarity to processes and improve transparency in ministerial appointments,” Leeser said.
Liberal MP and Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Investment NSW boss, who appointed ex-deputy premier to US post, resigns
By Alexandra Smith and Lucy Cormack
The senior public servant who appointed former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to a plum New York trade job has stood down as chief executive of Investment NSW as the scandal continues to plague the state government.
Amy Brown will no longer have the dual roles of Investment NSW boss and secretary of the Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade after a review of the appointment.
Investment NSW boss Amy Brown.Credit:Kate Geraghty
Brown, who was criticised by former public service commissioner Graeme Head during his independent review of Barilaro’s appointment, will remain as the department secretary.
The decision to separate the roles was made at the same time as the review was released by Premier Dominic Perrottet last Tuesday. However, the move was not publicly revealed.
Former trade minister Stuart Ayres resigned from cabinet for his role in the appointment process, which was deemed to not have been done at “arm’s length” from the government.
You can read the full story here.
This afternoon’s headlines at a glance
By Broede Carmody
Good afternoon, and thanks for reading our live news coverage today.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his cabinet has decided there needs to be a further inquiry into Scott Morrison’s secret portfolio saga headed by a legal expert. It comes after Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue found that former prime minister Scott Morrison was validly appointed to administer the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources – but the secrecy surrounding the appointment “fundamentally undermined” the conventions of responsible government.
- Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has backed calls to increase the nation’s intake of skilled migrants ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit. It comes as the federal government considers ways to tackle worker shortages plaguing most industries.
- In NSW, Premier Dominic Perrottet is once again pushing to put COVID-19 isolation back on the agenda when the federal cabinet meets again on August 31. He has previously called for isolation to be cut from seven days to five.
- And speaking of coronavirus, Australia has reported 15,338 new cases of COVID-19 today and 95 deaths from the virus.
I’m signing off the blog now but will be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning. Until then, have a great afternoon.
Amelia McGuire will be with you for the rest of the day.
Most Viewed in National
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiqAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2F1c3RyYWxpYS1uZXdzLWxpdmUtcG0tdG8tcmVsZWFzZS1sZWdhbC1hZHZpY2Utc3Vycm91bmRpbmctc2NvdHQtbW9ycmlzb24tcy1hcHBvaW50bWVudC10by1maXZlLW1pbmlzdGVyLXBvcnRmb2xpb3MtMjAyMjA4MjItcDViYnVkLmh0bWzSAagBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuc21oLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy1saXZlLXBtLXRvLXJlbGVhc2UtbGVnYWwtYWR2aWNlLXN1cnJvdW5kaW5nLXNjb3R0LW1vcnJpc29uLXMtYXBwb2ludG1lbnQtdG8tZml2ZS1taW5pc3Rlci1wb3J0Zm9saW9zLTIwMjIwODIyLXA1YmJ1ZC5odG1s?oc=5
2022-08-23 08:27:16Z
1534943191
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "As it happened: Solicitor-General finds Scott Morrison validly appointed to industry portfolio but criticises secrecy; PM says further inquiry needed - Sydney Morning Herald"
Post a Comment